Process of reproducing surface appearance of natural objects



L. v. CASTO 1,762,711

PROCESS OFREPRODUCING SURFACE APPEARANCE OF NATURAL OBJECTS June 10, 1930.

2 Sheets-Sheet l m n w Filed March 21, 1928 arm June 10, 1930. v. cAsTo PROCESS OF REPRODUCING SURFACE APPEARANCE OF NATURAL OBJECTS Filed March 21, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 351,3 wnmmw m6? abtouwql Patented June 10, 1930 UNITED" STATES PATENT OFFICE LLOYD V. CASTO, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR T0 OXFORD VARNISH CORPO- RATION, OI DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN PROCESS OF REPRODUCING SURFACE APPEARANCE OF NATURAL OBJECTS Application fi1ed March 21, 1928. Serial No. 263,439.

This invention is concerned with improvements in the art of re roducing the surfaceappearances of natura objects such as marble'slabs, etc. In my prior disclosure of a marbleizing process as set forth in my application, Serial Number 163,200 filed J anuary 24 1927, which has become Patent No. 1,682,067, dated August 28, 1928, I disclosed a method of using an' etched plate for repro ducing in natural colors a marble appearance on surfaces of materials other than marble, and wherein I proposed the use of a negative plate which, when used to form a transfer, would cause the reproduction or formation of the veins or cleavage lines of the marble to be defined by ink omissions in the transfer, and I utilized such a plate by first applying to the surface of the material being treated a ground coat which would be of a color simulating one of the natural colors of the marble. I then placed over the ground coat pigment, after the ground coat .had dried, a transfer taken from the plate on one color and then I subsequently applied over that transfer a second transfer of a different color darker in shade than the previous color, an'd.the second transfer was applied so that the cleavage lines or veins of the marble of the second transfer would be out of register with the veins or cleavage lines of the previous transfer, thus producing a highly pleasing reproduction of the marble surface being imitated. No two pieces or articles thus finished would be exact duplicates in surface appearance. However, in my process referred to, the major color of the marble surface was obtained by a pre-determination of the two colors of the transfers which when blended by and superposed upon the ground coat would approximate the desired composite color result.

However, in obtaining the final ma or or dominating color of surface appearance by compositing the transfer colors, I found that the cleavage or vein colors in some instances, while satisfactory, were not'as near to the orginal natural colors as might be obtained by a modification of the process.

' My present invention, therefore, is con cerned'with a method of reproducmg a marble surface to'obtain the general pleasing results obtained by my prior process but wherewith I may obtain a more accurate reproduction of the colors of the marble cleavages -or veins while at the same time ohtaming a proper reproduction or matching of the dominating major color of the marble surface being reproduced.

Other objects of my invention will hereinafter become apparent from the following description of apparatus which is found to be satisfactory in carrying out the steps of my present novel process. The essential characteristics thereof are summarized in the claims.

In the drawings, in Fig. 1 I show in conventional manner and more or less diagrammatically amarble surface to be reproduced. In Fig. 2 I show an etched surface hereafter referred to as'a negative printing surface for reproducing only certain of the colors present in the veins or cleavage lines of the natural surface of the marble being reproduced; Fig. 3 is a positive printing surface utilizable for reproduction of the dominating major color of the natural marble and for also reproducing'certain of the cleavage lines and formations of the marble surface;

and Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic representation of the composite of the various colors applied to the surface being treated to effect simulation of the natural surface shown in Fig. 1.

Throughout the specification in referring to positive and negative printing sur faces I use the words positive and negative in the same sense as they are used in photography. Thus in a reproduction made from a positive printing plate the dark portion of the object reproduced will be indicated by pigment, while in a reproduction made from a negative printing plate the dark portion of the object reproduced will be indicated by omission of pigment.

For purposes of illustration I will describe my process as it is employed in the reproduction of surfaces in which the general 'tonal effect in dark, and the definite colour lines are lighter than the background. However, it is to be understood that my process may ground coat on the surface to be treated. The

physical characteristics of this ground coat may vary in accordance with the nature of the physical characteristics of the material being treated. For example, some -mater-1- als, such as steel, have surfaces relatively non-porous as compared with materials such as plaster-board, pulp-board, asbestos-board, etc. but regardless of the filler requirements of the ground coat, I maintain a color characteristic which will correspond to one of the dominating colors present in the natural surface, as for example, the varying color tones marble slab. 1

I next prepare a photographic negative of the natural surface and then produce from this negative by the use of a carbon resist an etched negative printing plate or roll in the vein or cleavage formations in a natural which printing plate or roll'will form only the definite color lines such as the marble veins or cleavage formations, and this etched plate may be either a half tone or photogravure plate, and the transfer may be effected from such etched plate, the surface being treated by the use of a resilient roll in the well-known manner.

I then prepare a second etched plate or roll which is the reverse of the first plate or roll and in the form of a positive. The plate may be derived by using a photographic positive of the antural surface to form a negative carbon resist, and forming a positive printing'surface by etching the plate or roll through the negative carbon resist. In this plate, when marble having a dark background and lighter cleavage lines is the object, the veins or cleavage line formations are indicated in the transfer taken therefrom by ink or pigment omission that is, the major portion of this printing plate is ink or pigment in the transfer result, and I apply a pigment thereto, which corresponds to the final major dominating color appearance of the original natural marble. slab, the color, however, being slightly modified when blending with the ground coat.

I then apply this second transfer over the previous transfer but out of register therewith and thus obtain, in so far as cleavage line formation and vein formations of the marble are concerned, a blending of three colors, namely, the color of the ground coat, the color of the first transfer and the color of the final dominating colored transfer. It will thus be seen that I obtain in some inmea'rn stances exposure of the original ground coat color; in other places the original color of the first transfer; a blending of the last color into the ground coat color, a blending of the ground coat with the first color, and in other instances, a blending of all three colors, thus giving an effect very closely approximating, in'the instant case, the natural appearance of a marble slab.

In making a reproduction of a marble surface which is generally light and which has cleavage lines darker than the background I prefer to reverse the order of applying the transfer. That is, I first apply a transfer from the positive plate, and then apply a transfer from the negative plate over this, as it is advantageous to make the first transfer from the plate in which the cleavage lines are indicated by pigment.

Referring now to the drawings, Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a marble slab surface having three colors and variably blending at different portions of the surfaces.

The major color indicated by the line field 10' being the last color applied and with the use of the printing surface shown in Fig. 3; the line fields 12 being produced by the negative printing surface shown in Fig. 2. The printing surfaces in Figs. 2 and 3, in so far as zones or outlines are concerned, being in: verted relative to the corresponding zones shown in Fig. 1. In Fig. 4 thereproduced surface is shown and is produced by applying first a ground coat of the selected color, then applying a transfer taken from the surface Fig. 2, and thereafter a second transfer is taken from the surface shown in Fig. 3 and applied over the first transfer, whereby certain zones 15 will be present which comprise tonal blending of the ground color and the first transfer, and other zones 16 will comprise blending of the colors of the first and second transfer. These blending of tones will vary in tonal depth depending upon the etched printing surfaces shown in Figs. 2 and 3. An unending number of variations Will be obtained in the color combinatioiis by inverting the transfer rolls after the transfers have been taken from Figs. 2 and 3, or direct transfers may be made or either one or the other inverted in accordance with the results desired.

While the surface shown in Fig. 4 will not be an exact reproduction of the surface shown in Fig. 1, the imitation or simultation of the final dominating major color effect of the proximation of the natural colors is possible due to the confining of the pigment of the first transfer to only a minor part of the total surface'being treated. It will be apparent, however, that the negative transfercould be first applied and then the position superposed thereover, but the tonal results would not be quite as satisfactory as the obtainable result described.

I claim:

1. The process of reproducing a marble appearance on a hard surface, comprising using two etched printing surfaces, one prepared from a positive carbon resist and the other prepared from a negative carbon re- .sist of a marble surface to be simulated, by

first applying a ground coat to the surface to be finished, and then using one of the etched plates or rolls to make a transfer of the mar-' ble vein or cleavage lines in a color different than the color of the ground coat, then using the other plate or roll in the application of a different colored transfer which is superposed over the previous transfer but out of register therewith.

2. The process of reproducing a marble appearance on a hard surface, comprising using two etched printing surfaces, one prepared from a positive carbon resist and the other prepared from a negative carbon resist of the marble surface to be simulated by first applying a ground coat to the surface to be finished, and then using the positive etched plate or roll to make a transfer of the marble vein or cleavage lines in a color different than the color of the ground coat, then using the negative plate in the application of a different colored transfer which is superposed over the previous transfer but out o register therewith and thus reproduce certain of the .vein' or cleavage line formations on the original marble surface by plgment or ink om1s-. sion during the act of the second transfer whereby part of the previous transfer and also the gro'und'coat will be exposed through suchvein or cleavage-line li nk omission.

3. The process of reproducing a marble appearance on a hard surface, comprising using two dissimilar etched printing surfaces, prepared by photographing marble surfaces to be simulated, by first applying a ground coat .to the surface to be finished, and then using one etched printing surface to make a transfer of marble veins or cleavage lines in a color different than the color of the ground coat, then using the second printing surface in the application of a second but darker toned transfer which is superposed over the previous transfer but out of register therewith and thus reproducing certain of the vein or cleavage line formations of the original marble surfaces by the resulting blending of the full,

pigment to the surface to be finished, then" using one of said printing surfaces to make a transfer of marble veins or cleavage lines 1n a color different than the color of the ground coat, then using the second printing surface in the application of a second transfer which is superposed over the previous transfer but out of register therewith, and thus reproducing certain of the vein or cleavage line formations of the original marble surfaces by the resulting blending of the full tone, half tone and quarter tone effects of the first and second transfer colors in contrast upon the ground coat color.

5. A process for simulating-the natural appearances of surfaces on the surfaces of dissimilar materials comprising using two etched printing surfaces, the one being derived by using a photographic negative of the natural surface to form a positive carbon resist and then etching the printing surface through the positive carbon resist, thereby obtaining a negative printing surface; the other being derived by using a photographic positive of the natural surface to'form a negative carbon resist and then etching the being finished, in the sequence of colored transfer or impression desired but with the subsequent transfers out of register with the previous transfers.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my signature.

LLOYD V. CASTO. 

